Scouting: The thin line between success and failure
Kabelo Boranabi | Saturday April 8, 2023 06:00
An outstanding transfer window for any club is the gateway to a successful season and it all depends on perfecting the scouting job. Locally, clubs are not blessed with deep pockets and they do not have the luxury of employing full-time scouts.
For instance, in neighbouring South Africa, reigning champions, Mamelodi Sundowns have spread scouts across the world. Sundowns have taken advantage of their former captain and Dutch international, Alje Schut’s services to look for talent in Europe.
The team has deployed scouts in South America and the rest of Africa. Sundowns are a true testimony of a good scouting system as they are walking into their sixth successive league title while their impressive displays in continental inter-club competitions have not gone unnoticed. Locally, clubs depend on player agents and representatives as on occasions a YouTube video can be enough to access players, and this has on many occasions not worked well for the clubs. A typical example could be the recorded league champions, Township Rollers.
The team has had a good history of bringing the best foreign talent to local soils but has recently fallen down the pecking order. Six months stints for players including Ghanaian attacker, Francis Afriyie, speedy Kenyan winger, Ovella Ochieng and Congolese defender, Lebeau Binemo Madi have been evidence of Rollers' lack of influence in the international transfer market.
The trio arrived with impressive CVs but did not live up to their billing at Popa and this shows how poor the team has been in their scouting as Rollers are playing in their third season without any title. Surely, they went for talent they did not require. However, it has not been all doom and gloom for the local clubs and Premier League log leaders, Jwaneng Galaxy have had a keen eye when it comes to recruitment. In their second season at the mining town, Namibian duo, Wendell Rudath and Marcel Papama is repaying the club’s faith.
The pair is irreplaceable with Rudath among the leading goal scorers for the second season in succession while Papama has dished match-winning displays. Masitaoka have shocked many as they sit comfortably in the top eight bracket in their second season in the top flight. Also poaching from Namibia, the trio of skipper, Ivan Kamberipa, Ambrosius Amseb, and industrious midfielder, Marius Kotze has breathed some life into the team as they near 18 months at the club. Police XI’s Tanzanian winger, Elias Nyambi was an instant hit but injuries have hampered his progress. He remains a loyal servant at the Jungle Kings for five years. Notable mention also goes to Orapa United’s Tapiwa Nyamanjiva as he has played in every final the Ostriches have featured in.